Read the evidence which explains and describes why there’s such a strong case for treating young people in the criminal justice system differently from other groups.
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The legal dragnet: Joint Enterprise law and its implications
This report examines the law and prosecution practice concerning secondary liability, often referred to as ‘Joint Enterprise’. Focusing on homicide cases, it highlights the risks posed by the current ambiguous law and makes a case for creating a safer framework for prosecution. It finds that Joint Enterprise laws are vague and wide in scope, causing […]
September 2024Read the report
Serious Violence Disorders: The impression of doing something
In this briefing the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, in collaboration with StopWatch, analyse the introduction of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs), which were introduced under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. They were intended to allow for suspicion-less stop and search of individuals previously convicted of certain knife-related offences. A pilot […]
February 2025Download the briefing
Trapped in the Turnstile: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people’s experience of the criminal justice system
This report offers first-hand insights into young Romany, Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people’s experiences of the criminal justice system.
February 2025Download full report
Funding for systems change: the story of Barrow Cadbury Trust’s T2A campaign
Increasingly foundations are showing an interest in systems change work as a means of achieving greater impact when tackling intractable issues. In this report IVAR and Barrow Cadbury Trust use the T2A campaign to explore the conditions needed for this model of working.
February 2024Read more
Learning from tragedy? The potential benefits, risks and limitations of offensive weapons homicide reviews
A new duty to review homicides involving offensive weapons is unlikely to achieve its aim of reducing weapons-enabled homicides, whatever else it may accomplish says this Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) report.
February 2025Read more
Adultifying Youth Custody: learning lessons on transition to adulthood from the use of youth custody for young adults
This briefing explores how the Government’s decision to temporarily raise the age young people transfer from the children’s secure estate to the adult secure estate from 18 to 19 resulted in a 253% increase in the number of over 18s in the child estate. It highlights the lost opportunity for systemic reform during this time and warns of the long-term risk of blurring the boundaries between youth and adult justice systems.
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The Wayland Pilot: Use of a peer-led scrutiny panel to amplify voices and restore trust in the discrimination complaints system in prison
In November 2023 the Zahid Mubarek Trust (ZMT) looked at developing a pilot project to address the lack of confidence in the prison discrimination complaints system amongst minority ethnic prisoners, with a particular focus on young adult prisoners. The ZMT then delivered that pilot in HMP Wayland fromJanuary to April 2024. The findings from that […]
30 September 2024Read more
Young women’s education in prison
This report from Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) demonstrates the powerful role education plays for young women in prison and on release.
Publisher: Prisoners’ Education Trust
Author: Katy Swaine Williams
Young Justice Advisors Impact report: 2016 – 2024
This report highlights the strengths, impact and legacy
of the Young Justice Advisors project.
Publisher: Young Justice Advisors
Always Hope Evaluation: Final Report
The University of Sussex was commissioned to assess the extent to which the Always Hope project had achieved its intended aims and impact.
Publisher: University of Sussex
Authors: Claire Durrant, Tamsin Hinton-Smith and Lisa Holmes